‘Halo’ star reveals how he researched Master Chief role

The star of Paramount Plus’ upcoming Halo television series dove deep into the video game series’ lore while prepping for his role as Master Chief, according to comments the actor made at a Television Critics Association presentation.

Pablo Schreiber will portray Halo‘s towering protagonist in the upcoming series, which is set to debut on March 24. As part of the presentation, he discussed his process of becoming one of video games’ most recognizable heroes.

“Story is the entry point and I studied all the cinematics for the game obviously. And anything that’s been established in terms of lore in the video game universe, I looked at,” Schreiber said. “And then with the expanded literature with the books and the graphic novels and a lot of the other media that’s been made… The amount of material that we have to draw from going forward is unprecedented.”

Schreiber is entirely correct, as noted by Screen Rant. The Halo universe has expanded exponentially since its inception in 2001, spawning dozens of video games along with books, comics, and animated films. Most video game adaptations are truly atrocious, however, which has left many fans skeptical of this latest attempt at an adaptation.

The news that Schreiber put so much effort into his character prep should encourage trepidatious fans, as it at least indicates that his handling of Master Chief will be true to the lore. The entire series may not follow the same cues, but Schreiber’s comments indicate that perhaps the Paramount Plus series will learn from the mistakes of its predecessors. One of the biggest issues in video game adaptations — apart from their tendency to be painfully cheesy — has to do with deviating from established storylines and lore.

These games are beloved for a reason. They’ve sold millions of copies thanks to their memorable characters and rich world building, both of which matter nearly as much as solid mechanics and enjoyable gameplay. Taking a game like Halo and giving it the Resident Evil treatment — in which you ditch many of the original characters and plots in favor of something more predictable and plain — would completely ruin the series for many fans.

We’re not necessarily asking for the series to be a carbon copy of the games, but it’s important to gamers that adaptations stay true to their source material. It feels disrespectful to deviate too much — again, looking at you, Resident Evil — and Halo has plenty of material to choose from.

News that the series will actually take its wealth of options into account is excellent news and may entice skeptical fans to give the new show a try.